The World Seemed to Burn
by Dreams-Of-Ash
Summary: Snippets in time after the "death" of Wally. Told from Artemis's POV. "Who were you?" Dick asked her. It was hours before he put in his resignation. "Who were you before they told you who to be?"


**A/N: I write a lot of these little "snippet" stories. When asked why, I always respond with the same answer. We do not remember our lives word-for-word. We remember little moments in time. A character is no different, as sometimes they are more real than our reality.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

* * *

They burn away like paper in a wildfire.

Wally is the first to go, but his leave is permanent. In the night, they weep before his hologram, each grieving him separately. When the sun rises over Happy Harbor, its rays drench the water with blood. They do not mention him. Whatever happened last night, they leave at Wally's feet.

"Who were you?" Dick asked her. It was hours before he put in his resignation. "Who were you before they told you who to be?"

Artemis did not know how to answer. She was given her first identity behind a mask. Whatever existed before then was not something she cared to remember. Instead of answering, she gives him her hand.

Silence envelopes them like an old friend.

* * *

It is as if Dick never existed the next morning. Artemis helps him pack up what meager belongings he has stored on the Watchtower: birdaraangs, a spare suit… Some photographs. Artemis sat on the floor, the cool metal digging into her thighs, and looked through them.

Dick joined her. They laughed, and for a moment Artemis saw him as he used to be: the nameless vigilante "Robin," who they'd often found sleeping in the rafters of Mount Justice.

"Remember this?" Dick pulled a crinkled picture from the bottom of a stack. Two young, innocent faces stared back at them: Artemis Crock and Richard Grayson at Gotham Academy.

Artemis took the picture from his fingers. "We'll laugh about this someday."

* * *

When they moved into the Hall of Justice, M'gann disappeared without a trace.

Artemis knew where she went. She would never tell.

* * *

The last time she'd seen M'gann as Miss Martian, it was at the streets on which, once upon another time, they had fought Harm.

Artemis walked walked with her, a moonless sky above them.

"Remember when everything was in black and white?" M'gann asked her. The green vigilante was smiling, but her voice quaked.

"No," Artemis answered honestly.

The subject changed rather abruptly.

* * *

Besides Kaldur, she was officially the eldest of the group.

"Maybe it's time for us to move on," Kaldur suggested one morning. They had just returned from a recon mission. Bags hung beneath both of their eyes.

Artemis thought of Batman- his unforgiving face. She thought of how quiet the Watchtower was between missions. She remember how empty Zatanna had looked after her first month in the Justice League.

Artemis looked at her friend's face and shrugged. He read her mind.

"She broke my heart."

Artemis put a hand on Kaldur's shoulder. They had come to the remains of Mount Justice together. It was the first anniversary of Wally's… death. (She still cringed at the word.)

"You don't have to tell me," Artemis said after a moment. "Wally told me."

Silence.

"I'm sorry," Artemis rasped, and realized her eyes were watering. She blinked the tears away.

"No. Not by choosing my best friend," Kaldur reached his hand toward his lover's hologram. It phased right though. "She was happy. She didn't break my heart because she was happy."

Artemis took the hand that hand that had phased through the hologram and squeezed it between her own. "You don't have to tell me," she repeated.

Kaldur looked at their intertwined hands, his eyes misting with the memory of a better time. He squeezed her fingers, and she wondered when she'd let herself get so thin.

"Tula. She broke my heart because she left me. She left me for good."

* * *

"Conner?"

"In here."

Artemis grasped the plate of food in her hands. She was on Superboy duty tonight. Though the clone of the Man of Steel, he was no match to kryptonite. The Joker had gotten his hands on the unforgiving element only days prior. Conner had been laying under artificial yellow light ever since.

The door creaked as she opened it. Connor lay on his side, eyes to the wall.

"You okay?" she asked. She'd almost gone to get Kaldur tonight. Bedside manners were not Artemis's forte.

There was a beat, then a sign. The bed creaked. Connor sat up and forced a smile. "Yeah. I'm fine."

His voice was still weak. Playing behind him was " _Hello, Megan!"_

* * *

When he could stand again, Conner was on her doorstep.

"Where did she go?" he asked. "I need to know."

Artemis looked to him, at the pain in his eyes and the desperation on his face, and realized that, like her, he was being torn apart. She turned around to stare at the coffee pot in her kitchen.

With a wave of her hand, he walked over the threshold.

"It's a long story," she confessed.

Conner left that night. She hadn't seen or heard from him since.

* * *

"I need to see him," Kaldur told her. Her doorstep was becoming the group meeting place. "I need to see him one last time… as his son."

Artemis nodded. Somewhere, as the daughter of the enemy herself, she understood. "Do you want me to go with you?"

Kaldur shook his head no. He took her shoulders, embraced her, and then walked away.

* * *

They burnt away like paper in a wildfire.


End file.
